“That’s our fault.”
That is pure collectivism, and totally out-of-line with the principles of Individual Liberty, Freedom, and Conservatism!
How can it possibly be anyone’s else’s fault other than the poster him- or herself??? And, ascribing blame to ALL of us here at FR??? C’mon... We celebrate individualism here, don’t we????
It’s not like we have ANY control over any other person who posts here. There is no magic monitoring device we can use that alerts us whenever someone is ABOUT to post something over the line! It’s not like we have mind-control alerters that allow us to see into the head of people sitting in front of their keyboards! I don’t know of any THOUGHT police out there that could assist us, do you???
We only have the ability to control our own words, and respond when someone goes over the line. BECAUSE??? We are INDIVIDUALS and NOT a collective. We are not the BORG!
Suggesting that we are responsible for another posters actions is like — well frankly, it’s just like when the Muslims blamed the Pope for their violent reaction to his opinions! it’s a tactic used by people who wish to avoid their own responsibility. Saying it is OUR fault that people post that way here is — gosh I can’t even get my mind around finding this kind of thinking on FR.
How about placing the blame where it REALLY lays in the whole anti-illegal-immigration threads — the illegal alien criminals, the government who ignored the problem, and the politicians who wanted to ramrod through an amnesty that would’ve hurt our country and weakened our laws. Not to mention the fact that it was our OWN REPUBLICAN politicians who were quoted day after day on the MSM calling us bigots and rascists. It’s no wonder people responded in kind, frankly — they were very angry and for good reason. And, as I and others have pointed out repeatedly so MANY of those people on the anti-illegal-immigration threads who posted the most outrageous things were trolls, saboteurs, activists, and political operatives sprinkled with a few deranged individuals who actually were racists (no-one is denying they exist in our world). But, I suppose that is our fault too — that the world hasn’t gotten rid of all racism by now! That too, is perpetuated by our government and various organizations who wish to further the goals of their own ethnicity or race over that of another (this includes, but is not limited the white supremacy groups... it also includes groups like the NAACP, the ADL, the ACLU, etc... etc...). MLK, Jr. would be turning over in his grave if he saw what is happening to his dream!!! But, I suppose that is OUR fault as well that these groups exist, and we’ve allowed it to go on for so long... As far as I’m aware the people who daily fight and speak out against racism and the like number many more than the ignorant few who really are racists and bigots.
We face racism in our society on a daily basis. FR is just a microcosm of what we face in our WORLD — the good, the bad, and the ugly! I can’t honestly believe you would blame your fellow FReepers for the problems of the whole world, which is what you are doing by saying it is OUR fault that people come here and post their insane comments...
What do you propose — shutting the site down so that there is not any risk of this happening anymore? Because that is the ONLY way to prevent these things from happening and that is EXACTLY what the people who are saying these things about FR are trying to do.
Thanks! If you feel so responsible for the “hatred” expressed by trolls, etc... then perhaps you shouldn’t post here anymore so you don’t have to feel so guilty about it. I for one do not share in your collectivist attitude, and I don’t blame myself for others actions that are reprehensible, and that I (nor any other FReeper) have no control over!
I am in agreement with your statements. Well said.